Rise of the Red Knight
by caged95
Summary: The red lanterns are looking for new recruits and one of the rings locks onto earth for it's replacement. The death of a hero leads to the rise of the Red Knight. What happens when HE get a red ring of rage?
1. Prologue

Atrocitus stood before the remaining red lanterns as the 9 newly furbished rings whizzed around his head. He looked onto all of them with a new found strength. After he slew the Guardian his mind was quieted and he realized his rage had been quelled. For the first time in decades he felt another emotion, one he remembered so well. This was the same feeling he felt when his family was slaughtered that day. This was the feeling he felt before anger and hate merged with it to form rage. For once in a long time, he felt afraid.

He was afraid that his purpose was fleeting, but it was only for a second. He felt disgusting even admitting that to anyone, let alone himself. He smiled as he saw that the only remaining lanterns were those that had taken part in the blood ritual. Part of him was glad that he could have competent members of the Red Lantern Corps, but it seemed that these members were rebellious in nature. They needed guidance, they needed Atrocitus to guide their rage. He was going to be their shepherd and they were his angry sheep. He smiled and began.

"As you all know I became disillusioned recently by the taint, that was present in the blood lake. That paired with the Guardian's cowardly plot to eradicate us have made me see a different sense of rage. As I drew blood from the only guardian I could kill, I saw the error in my fallacy. I will no longer be as weak as I was in those moments. It took me until now to realize that I was being consumed by my own rage and I did not turn an eye to all of your rage, or to all the rage that surrounds us. Therefore I have used the blood from the lake to forge nine more rings. As a Corps we must expand, and show the Universe what true rage can do. We will help the victims seek their own brand of justice and we will do it with unwavering force. As the founder and father of the Red Lantern Corps I decree that we have a new code. We will seek out the filth of this universe and we will show them the red light of rage. Before we can begin this conquest though we must seek out the last stain the Guardian's left upon this universe. We have had to fight their wars. We had to save those pathetic filth far too many Green Lantern Corps created a mess . Join me and together we will realize our destiny!"

Atrocitus smiled and cheered, looking out as the angry faces returned his chant. As Dex-Starr perched himself on his shoulder he looked out at the few numbers he had remaining. If they were to be stronger they needed a weapon. They needed something that would give them the upper-hand. As he scanned his remaining members, his eyes stopped at Rankorr. What they needed was his power. They needed his constructs. He made his decision. He released the rings into the Universe and allowed them time to go seek their new wearers. He then began to speak again.

"Now that the rings are en route to seek replacements, we must take into account that our numbers are small, whereas the Green scum have numbers in the thousands. Even then it takes many of them to stop us, but we will need every advantage we can have." He maintained eye contact with Rankorr as he uttered every word. "We all need to be able to create constructs and Rankkorr, you are the only one who can manipulate the rage to make constructs. You have proven yourself loyal to the corps and your loyalty is corps will need your loyalty one last time as we seek to expand our influence. Worry not, Rankkorr. You will go down as a legend, as you give your blood to the rest of us, so that we may share in your power. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."

The other lanterns turned on him and began to move in. He created weapon constructs and prepared himself for battle.

"Like bloody hell you will. Any of you come near me and you will regret it." Rankkorr looked around crazily as the Corps began to surround him. Atrocitus flew overhead and smiled at him. He spewed blood vomit and yelled out.

"Attack!" The Red Lanterns began to swipe at Rankkorr as he pushed them all off and pressed of their attacks. As the battle ensued Atrocitus flew watched and chanted. "_With blood and rage of crimson red, Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead. Together with our hellish hate, we'll burn you all-that is your fate!" _Atrocitus sung the words as Rankkorr fought off the entire corps on his own. He then floated to face him and prepared to attack. When suddenly a voice rang out in the sky.

"Some cryptic ass oath you came up with Atrocitus. I ain't here to tell you how to run your corps, but anyone who gets people to gang up on one of his brothers in arms, his "friend", he deserves the beating I am about to give you." Guy Gardner smirked as he landed and began to walk towards Atrocitus. All the rage and anger he ever felt was burning inside him and he was ready to unload. HIs anger at Hal, at the Corps, at his father, and anyone who wronged him. HIs hate with the people who doubted him. The people who used him. HIs hate for all that was bad drove him to punch atrocitus. His anger at the first lantern. His hate and feelings of betrayal by the guardians. He unloaded everything onto Atrocitus.

The two exchanged blows for a while. Rankkorr stood in amazement, as Guy was beaten to the ground, Only to stand back up and return the favor to Atrocitus. For a second it seemed unclear who would win, but once Gardner dropped Atrocitus to the ground he stood over him and beat him senseless. The white of his gloves became crimson as blood stained his Green Lantern Uniform and covered up the insignia. Gardner beat Atrocitus to within an inch of his life,

He then removed the ring from Atrocitus' hand and placed it on his hand. He felt the anger and rage course through him and he began to see red. He held the rage at bay as he stood up and turned to face the other lanterns.

"I'm the new red, the name's Guy Gardner. Pleasure to meet all of you." He tried to stay calm as the rage began to infect his thoughts. He turned in time to see a blue cat caring Atrocitus' body and flying off with it. He shrugged and turned to the crowd. "So let's get to know each other." Elsewhere the rings sought out their new hosts.


	2. Birth of the Red Knight

Damian smirked to himself as he flew to the scene of the crime. His father had his best interest at heart, but his father was acting foolish. He needed to be there to help, he didn't care if his mother had a hit placed on him. That was even more reason for him to confront her. See why she was doing this. He had proved himself enough times, that his father should trust him. As he looked down at the action excitement rushed through spotted Dick in the fray and he rerouted the plane to go back to the Manor, then he jumped out to join him in the fray.

Dick looked up to see Damian had managed to slip past Alfred and he smiled to himself. Crazy kid, he thought to himself. Damian was always so excited to be Robin. He was different, a bit arrogant at times even. He chuckled to himself as Damian dropped down and began to fight off guys around him. As he approached the two friend's locked eyes and they understood each other.

Dick ducked as Damian spun over him and booted the guy approaching behind him in the face. He then caught him and tossed him into the oncoming crowd. He then joined him in taking the people down. The two smiled as they looked at their handiwork, but the moment was short-lived when they were fired on. They dodged the bullets and hid behind a large boulder. They shielded themselves from the shots.

"So managed to sneak out to help? How'd you do it? You know Bruce will be mad to see you here" Nightwing snickered at him as he rolled his eyes.

"Father, is mistaken in his belief that I should be confined to my room. I am not a child. Plus this is as much my fight as it is his. My mom placed a hit on me and I have to figure out why." Damian looked over to see assess the situation. And then looked back at Nightwing. "They are spread out trying to encircle us. We need a plan."

Dick looked over the edge and saw what Damian was saying. He looked around as he noticed Tim fighting off his own herd of villains in the balcony. He looked at the firepower the men were carrying and the armor they were wearing and he deduced that if they threw smoke grenades and worked their way inwards from the outside they would both be able to pick off the coming attackers.

"Robin I need you to give us a cover then meet me in the middle understood?" He winked at Damian as he prepared himself. Damian smiled and nodded. "Richard, don't tell any of the other's but you have been my favorite partner to work with." He smiled and pulled out the smoke bombs and tossed them into the coming crowd. He took the left side and Dick took the right. They disarmed their opponents and knocked each of them unconscious. They made their way to the middle and as they knocked out their last opponent Damian flip kicked nearly making contact with Nightwing, who was just able to dodge the attack.

"Sorry, thought you were one of them."

"Sure thing kid, that trick might work on Tim or Batgirl, but it doesn't work on me I know you better. Hell we trained as Batman and Robin before kid, don't think I don't know all your tricks."

"Well like you said, you know me well, and I know you. I was just making sure you were on your toes. From the looks of it you were getting rusty Richard. I might have to recant my previous statement of us being the best."

"Whatever you say Damian, whatever you say. I swear kid, I never thought I'd see the day someone was as moody as Bruce. You must be his son. Hell you even the same brooding face he does." He began to chuckle to himself as he teased Damian.

"Focus on the mission there is no time for your jokes. You are just jealous because I'm a better Robin than you were."

"I'm Nightwing now, don't need to be robin. You're just mad because I've whooped you in training all the time cause I took out my guys faster than you did."

"Seriously though, I am glad I ran into you, I know father will be mad at me for this, and he may blame Pennyworth, but I need to be here. I was raised to fight and I need to get to the bottom of all of this." He then looked around at the burning building and began to think through the details of the case. "Mother and her people have kidnapped kids from an orphanage and using them for their experiments, we need to find those kids."

"I think Bruce had that covered, then he was going to confront your mom." As he said this Bruce and Talia burst out the building fighting, exchanging blows. Talia then swung back around and back into the burning building as Batman followed her back in. "So I don't know if he got the kids." Nightwing said hesitantly. As he looked over to Damian he was surprised to see that he was rushing in the burning building. He tried to follow him in, but was pulled back by a man in a metal suit that seemed to be mocking Batman. He tossed Nightwing to the floor and stood over him.

"I am Heretic and I am here for Damian Wayne, or as you know him Robin. Where is he?"

Nightwing looked at his opponent and smiled. "Like I would tell you where Robin is. Hell I'd like to know the answer to that question myself." He then backflipped to his feet and began his attack. He tried to send a flying knee to Heretic's chest but his move was blocked. He threw a punch but it accomplished nothing. He then rushed and tried to land a deadly elbow to Heretic's neck but it was to no avail. As he slipped back to the ground, Heretic grabbed his arm and pulled him up to his face.

"Enough games Nightwing, send me to Robin before I kill you as well." He then slammed Nightwing to the floor with immense force. Nightwing winced as pain shot through out his entire body. He then stood up and laughed, ready to fight again.

"Well when you put it that way, how about….NO!" He then used his batons and began to attack Heretic, catching him off guard. He then tripped him and used his batons to smash him to the floor. Just then Damian burst out of the building with the kids trailing behind him. He made eye contact with Nightwing as he got the kids to saftey. As soon as the children were safe he rushed back to Nightwing who was in mid-combat with one of his mom's soldiers. He rushed to help but when Nightwing saw him he screamed out.

"Robin get out of here fall back. Hurry run!" Confused Damian stopped for a second and considered running. Nightwing looked as if he could handle the guy, maybe he would go see where his parents were. As he began to turn back he saw Nightwing lifted up and thrown across the lawn where he hit a rock and crumpled to the floor.

"NIGHTWING!" Anger rushed through him as he charged at the soldier. He exchanged blows and started to knock him around. The soldier began to fire small arrows at him. He dodged most of them, but a few got imbedded in his arms and legs. They had razor tips and were the size of toothpicks, and they stung as they pierced his flesh but he fought on. He kicked and punched at him and dropped him to the ground. He then stood over and stomped his foot over his helmet repeatedly. He stopped before he killed the man and ran over to Nighwing.

"Come on Richard get up, don't die on me you idiot. Don't do this to us. Father will hate you for this, come one. Please Richard, don't die. I need you. Please don't die." He stood over NIghtwing shaking him to see if he was alive. He didn't seem to be moving at all. He checked for a pulse, and was almost discouraged, but he felt it. It was faint but there was a pulse. He started to laugh and smile out of relief. He shook him a bit more and Nightwing began to stir. He opened his eyes and smiled.

"Did we win?" He asked weakly. Trying to sit himself up. Pain shot through his entire body, but he was able to move, no paralysis. His head was on fire and he felt extremely dizzy.

"No but you took a bad fly and landed wrong. I believe you may have broken a few bones and you definitely suffered a concussion. I suggest you get out of here. I'll get you out hold on. Penny-one we need the plane I left it to come back. Nightwing needs medical attention." He sat him up and hugged him. "Thanks for not being dead Richard. Next time you scare me like that you'll wish you were dead, understood?" Dick nodded and laughed. He clutched his ribs as he laughed he must have broken a few because it hurt him to laugh. Just then Robin was plucked in the air by Heretic.

Damian prepared himself and tried to counter the attack , but Heretic was ready for him. Damian utilized the electricity option on his suit, that he installed, after he saw his father had that equipped on most of his suits. Heretic stumbled back and fell to his knees. Damian was upon him he kneed his head and began to kick at the helmet in hopes of causing a concussion. Heretic was prepared. He grabbed Damian's leg and flung him like a ragdoll. Damian corrected himself, flipped and prepared for another attack. Heretic appeared to be struggling to get up so he moved in to attack. As he jumped to smash Heretic's head to the ground with his boot, he was caught off guard. Heretic was waiting for this moment to strike. He impaled in his sword into Robin and pushed further. As he stood up, he began to lift the sword so that it would go deeper into Damian. Damian shook his head and spat blood onto heretic. "You are a coward, I hope you burn in hell."

"Too bad you'll be going there first!" Heretic proclaimed as he kicked Damian off of his sword. Nightwing was at a loss of words. He felt numb as he crawled to Damian's body. Damian was bleeding out, but he was still alive.

"Batman, Red Robin, Penny-One, Batgirl, Red Hood, hurry. Come on Batman. You need to get here he's losing a lot of blood. Please." Tears began to flow out of Dick's eyes as he held Damian trying to apply pressure to the exit and entrance wounds, in hopes that it would work.

"Thank you for being here Richard. If there was anyone I would rather spend my final moments with it's you. Tell my father I love him. And tell Pennyworth it's not his fault, and that I love him as well." He smiled and coughed up blood. Talking had exhausted him and he was beginning to fade. Elsewhere Batman was rushing to get to him.

"Batman, Red Robin, Penny-One, Batgirl, Red Hood, hurry. Come on Batman. You need to get here he's losing a lot of blood. Please." Batman heard the transmission as he was exchanging blows with Talia. They both heard Nightwing on the communicator and they stopped. Nightwing sounded as if he were choking back tears. Then it hit him. Damian. He turned his back on Talia and rushed to Nightwing's coordinates. He ran as fast as he could, but it seemed as if he could not move fast enough. The sounds around him drowned out and the only sound that remained in his ears was the sound of his heart, as it pumped blood. His heart was racing with his steps. The beats seemed to be in synch with his footsteps. Step, pump, Step pump. It was a rhythm of fear as he shot his grappling hook and shot out the window and out into the open air. He spotted Nightwing crouched over Damian and he swung down to them. When he got there he was horrified to see Damian was bleeding out and was dying. Nightwing was sitting to the side of the body, arms wrapped around his knees tears pouring from his eyes. He held Damian in his arms and tried to talk to him. To check to see if he was alive.

"No not again. Not like this. Come on son, you can survive this, don't do this to me. I can't lose you, not like this please. I can't lose another one. Please. Please." Tears began to flow out as he felt his heart shatter. He held his dead son in his arms and cried. As the tears flowed out he noticed the hole in his son's chest and turned to Nightwing. He was seething with rage, and for the first time in his life he was ready to kill someone.

"Who did this? Where is? Where did he go?"

"His name is Heretic, he must have slipped away...I didn't…" NIghtwing trailed off as Batman took of. He was headed back to Talia. He heard shouting and he headed towards the noises. When he arrived Talia was arguing with a tall soldier who was weilding a bloody sword. It had to be Heretic. The sounds around Batman turned to white noise. There was no one else in the room with him as far as he was concerned. The only people in the room were him and Heretic. He charged him.

He tackled him to the ground and began to pound his fist into the mask, denting the metal and ripping his gloves open. Pain shot through his hand as he continued his assault. He broke all the bones in the knuckles as he continued his assault. Blow after blow. Bone and metal snapped as the mask became so dented that it was starting to cut into Heretic's face. He stood up faced Talia. His hands were broken and his suit was torn from the struggle of keeping heretic pinned to the floor. He looked at Talia and all he could see was red. He was about to attack her when Heretic sprung up and leaped on his back. He flipped him forward and was about to continue his assault, but Talia cut off Heretic's head. The mask came off and revealed a face that looked exactly like Damian's. As Bruce started to put two and two together. His rage exploded into new levels.

"You had him CLONED?! And you ALLOWED HIM TO BE KILLED! What kind of mother are you! You brought me a son and you took him from me, because why? Because he wasn't evil like you and your father? I will make you suffer Talia Al Ghul and will ensure that your father gets the message. He will be next."

"Bruce no, think about it. I know your mad but stop and think about what you are doing." Dick rang onto the intercomm. Bruce took off the ear piece and smashed it on the ground. He thought about Damian's body lying out on the snow and he began to get more upset. As he began to move Talia ran. He followed her back to where Damian's body lay and seeing him dead set him back into rage. He threw a Batarang and knocked Talia to the ground. His rage exploded and he let out a chilling scream. He inched closer as he began to seethe with anger. As he stepped closer something red whizzed by and stopped in front of him. He ignored it and lifted Talia off the ground. He forced her to face Damian's body and then he spoke.

"Do you see what you have done? You killed our son. I can never forgive you for that Talia. I will make your family suffer. Your father will share in the pain that I have experienced today." He then grabbed her neck tight flexed. Nightwing watched in horror as Batman twisted his arm and snapped her neck. He passed out when he saw Bruce's angry face staring at him.

The red thing floating around him spoke. _Bruce Wayne of Earth you have much rage in your heart. Welcome to the Red Lantern Corps. _As soon as it spoke it latched onto his finger and instantly he felt his heart pound furiously. His anger reached new heights, just as his heart stopped. It felt as if it had exploded in his chest, and very soon he felt a beat in his new ring. He screamed and blood napalm shot out and rained out onto Talia al ghul's body. Her body caught fire and burned it to the bones. Batman stopped and looked at his new attire. He tried to take the ring off, but it seemed to bond with him. As he tried to remember what the rings were he remembered what Hal had told him, Red was rage and one of the most dangerous weapons. The ring became the host's life source and the only way to take it off was to either die or by the hand of a blue lantern. He realized this and made up his mind. He would seek a Blue Lantern after he had enacted his revenge upon Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins.


	3. Awareness

Nightwing watched in horror as Batman was transformed before his eyes. The red lantern ring had not even touched his finger, but his eyes were full of rage and hate. Bruce had never killed and made it his life's rule to never kill anyone. Then in a fit of rage he broke his own rule, more than once, and he did it with ease. As he faded away he did not see a man looking back at him, it was a monster.

Dick woke up on a steel table and was noticed that he was wrapped in bandages. He looked around and saw Barbara asleep at his side, he started to wonder where he was, and whether the memory he had was a dream or not. He sat up and felt the soreness all around his body. He stood up and started to walk when Barbara woke up.

"Morning sleepyhead, sorry I woke you, just gotta go to the bathroom." He laughed gently as he started to make his way to the door.

"When you get out meet us in the Batcave, we're going to have a meeting to talk about what happened." Barbara wiped her eyes and stretched. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and she looked as if she hadn't gotten any sleep.

He walked down the hallway trying to clear his head, and make sense of what had happened. He tried his best to keep t his composure but the moment he walked into the bathroom he broke. He punched a hole in the wall and bruised his knuckles in the process.. Damian had died in front of him and he couldn't stop it. He had been there and he could have done something about it. If only he had been faster he could have stopped it from happening.

He wasn't surprised Bruce snapped. He had always admired his resilience, and how no matter what happened, Bruce always kept going. The death of his parents motivated him to be the best he could to stop crime. Jason's death made him more cautious, in time he reached out to all of them to make sure something like that never happened again. This was too much though. He had never seen Bruce that upset, that angry. The look of hate in his eyes kept replaying in his mind. It was as if Bruce was trying to tell him, "You were here and you failed him. We both failed him, now I am going to correct those mistakes." He stared at himself in the mirror for a while, taking in all the details of his face. The puffy redness of his eyes seemed to complete the cuts on his cheeks and forehead. He punched the mirror and made his way to the batcave. .

When he got down to the Batcave Tim, Barbara, Jason, and Alfred were waiting for him. He made his way to the center and he notices something scurrying in the shadows. He looked up and called out.

"Come out Selina, I can see you." He smiled weakly, at her as she dropped down from her hiding spot and stood with the rest of them. He then turned to Red Robin, "So Tim, what's this about?"

"As you know Dick, Batman snapped and is now equipped with a Red Lantern ring. After he killed Talia al Ghul he fled with Damian's body. I think he went to confront the League of Assassins. I called you all here, because I believe Bruce needs our help. I've been going through his files on the different colored rings and found out that the red ring is powered by rage and that once it bonds with the host it becomes their life force. Now this would be bad news, but there is a way to get the ring off without killing him. In order for that to happen we would need to find a Blue Lantern. Now unfortunately there are none on earth and Hal Jordan is not answering his communicator. We cannot help Bruce alone, so I have opted to call Superman. He will be here in a bit, and I wanted you all to be here when he arrived." Tim finished talking and then looked around at everyone.

He remained silent, holding back the tears and anger he was feeling. The tension in the room was high. After the Joker incident, they all went on their way, but now they were being forced back together because Bruce was in danger. They all hung their heads in silence as they thought about Damian. No one spoke a word, but it was obvious that he was on their minds. It was then that the sound of the doorbell broke the silence. Dick raced to answer the door, Alfred followed behind him.

"I thought it would be rude to barge in given the circumstances. I was hoping we could take this meeting to the watchtower? It's much safer and there is less of a risk that people are listening in." Superman said as Alfred invited him.

"Just let us suit up first and we'll join you." Dick said as he went back to let the other's know that the meeting location was being changed.

As they all came out and Red Robin started to make an excuse for Catwoman, but Superman stopped him.

"Bruce and I worked together for a long time now, he's been a great friend to me, and I know that he and Selina share a friendship too. You are welcome to come with us Catwoman." He nodded as he called in Cyborg to let them in. A beam of light shot down and they were transported to the they arrived Batgirl puked.

"We made adjustments to the boom tube's which allow for instant transportation. Don't worry Batgirl you aren't the first to throw up post-transport.

They made their way to the Hall of Justice to discuss what would happen next. Once inside Superman began to speak.

"So we tried reaching out to Hal Jordan, but we cannot reach him. I've called in Simon Baz, who appears to be the only Green Lantern we can reach. I told him to go back to Oa and let Hal know what is going on and to bring help. It will be a while before he gets back so we need to find a way to contain Bruce in the meantime. Red Robin, you said you knew where he was going?"

"Yes, we believe we know exactly where he is going and we need help to keep him calm. He is losing control and he has already killed. I told you this before, why are we going over it?"

"Just protocol, Bruce's idea. Anyways I brought you all to the Watchtower, because I don't want people getting word that Batman is going crazy. The press would have a field day if word got out that Batman has killed people, and he is armed with an extremely dangerous weapon. So what is going to happen is, Wonder Woman and I are going to go stop Bruce and place him in one of my containment cells I keep in my Fortress. I will need you guys to help show us where he is and I may also need help to keep him calm. If he loses control of the ring can make him do terrible things. I don't have any experience with these rings, but if they operate like Green Lantern's ring I am sure that I can handle it."

Nightwing then spoke up and told him where they believed Batman to be. After they called Wonder Woman, they all suited up and headed out to confront Batman and the League of Assassins.

* * *

Hal could not believe what had just happened in the short days following the death of the Guardian's. He had risen from the dead as a Black Lantern, been revived by Kyle and given his old ring back after Sinestro went back to being a yellow lantern. Then on top of that Sinestro consumed Parallax, and ventured off into the far reaches of space. Then shortly after sending Guy out to Ysmault, Oa get's attacked by Larfleeze.

As he and the other lantern's tried to push against Agent Orange, he couldn't help but get upset at this terrible turn of events. To make matters worse, Kyle was gone venturing the outskirts of the universe and the Simon Baz was far off on earth. He tried to man the defenses, but Larfleeze was too strong and the new recruits were beginning to falter. If this kept going they would lose for sure. As he began to try and devise the fastest plan to victory, John and Saint Walker came flying in time.

"Do not lose hope Hal Jordan, support has arrived," Saint Walker said as he, Brother Warth, Fatality, and John flew in. He enhanced his aura and began multiplying the power of all the Green Lantern's around him, Warth did the same. Together the Blue and Green Lantern's were able to push back Larfleeze.

"I will come back for what is mine. You green's can't hide my stuff, it's mine! Mine!" He screamed out as he flew away from Oa in anger.

The Green Lanterns cheered as Larfleeze disappeared into the night sky. Their victory was short lived however, when their rings started to malfunction. Their power was down and for an instant they lost control of their power rings. Lantern's fell from the sky, and the power in Oa went out for a brief second, but it was enough to cause panic. As the power came back on, Kilowog was on Hal's ring giving him the status report.

"Hal bad news boss. When the power went out a few prisoners escaped from their cells. They're trying to start a riot in the Sciencells. We need a large group of lantern's down there to quell the riot, before it get's worse." As Hal began to gather a group of Lantern's a screeching voice broke his concerntration.

"What did you do to Larfleeze's ring?! Larfleeze will flay you all. Skin you! No one messes with Larfleeze and lives. No one!"

Just then orange energy constructs began to fly in all directions. Hal started to bark orders at the Lantern's to stand and defend Oa. He then told John, Fatality, and Wrath to gather a group and defend the Sciencells, he and Saint Walker would handle the current situation.

Once again Hal and the other Green Lantern's found themselves in a gridlock with Agent Orange, only this time Hal was starting to get were going from bad to worse, and he didn't have time to get anything situated. It felt as if the Universe itself was hoping the Green Lantern's would finally come had fought too long and too hard to let the Corps fall victim to some dog thing. Thanks to Saint Walker, they were holding their own against Larfleeze, but then suddenly the rings crashed. They stopped working, and failed to respond to any commands. As all the fighter's stood still in confusion, trying to get their rings to work, they heard a commotion directly followed by a ship taking off and flying off Oa. Meanwhile Larfleeze was yelling at the top of his lung's delirious and confused as to why his ring was not working.

"What have you green thieves done to Larfleeeze's ring? Why does it not respond to Larfleeze's commands? What have you done? Oh a ship! Larfleeze wants it, and what Larfleeze desires Larfleeze gets." Just then, all the rings started to work. Larfleeze started to jump for joy and holler as his ring came back online.

"Well go after the damn ship you idiot. Stop cheering like some earth girl." His ring said to get him to get moving.

"Shut your metal stupid ring. Larfleeze does as he pleases and Larfleeze will follow the ship when he pleases. It just so happens that he now pleases so full throttle follow that ship!" He then followed the path the ship had taken.

As John and the other's returned they had sad looks on their faces. Hal had a bad feeling that the ship and the prisoners obviously aboard it were not the only thing that was lost. Sure enough he notice that John was holding two green rings in stasis. They were recruits who had volunteered to help. They were killed when the rings stopped working. As Hal hung his head in silence he couldn't help but get upset. He pulled John aside and prepared to tell him the news about Guy. He did not want to make John's day worse, but he needed to be filled in as soon as possible.

"John, come here I have something to tell you."

"It can't wait?"

"No, it's extremely important. I need to tell you now."

"What is it?"

"It's about Guy."

"What about him? Where the hell is he at?"

"See the thing is I sent him to run intel for me as a Red Lantern. The thing is I think he may have gone native John. I didn't want this to happen I swear, but I needed the intel and…"

"And what? You intentionally poison Guy? Leave him out to die like a monster with a red ring on his hand? What the hell were you thinking?" John said as he punched Hal square in the jaw. "What now you have power you think you can send one of your friends to die?" He punched Hal again and walked away.

"I deserved 't hate me, go talk to him yourself. Hurry back I need all the help I can get."

Just then Simon Baz touched down on Oa. He made eye contact with Hal and flew over his way.

"Hal Jordan, I have a message from the Justice League and Nightwing, it's about Batman. He needs your help." He then turned to Saint Walker,who he noticed floating by, "Well I think you specifically."

"What is it what happened?"

"Well I don't have the specific's, but all I know is that Batman now has a red ring on his finger and he may be a danger to himself and other's. They sent me to get you, and hopefully, no pun intended, a Blue Lantern. We want the ring off him as soon as possible."

Hal turned to John and the two seemed to reach a secret agreement. He then turned to Saint Walker to see if he was willing to help. Before he could answer Hal, Wrath stepped up and volunteered.

"If this Batman is a friend of yours Hal Jordan, then it would be an honor to help you purge him of the ring of rage. I understand that the oddity that just occurred is perplexing, so I hope you and Saint Walker can find out what is happening with our rings."

Saint Walker responded, "You are willing to do this Brother Wrath?"

"Of course Saint Walker. Your services would be better put to solving the blackout issue."

"Then it's settled. John and I will go talk to Guy and the Red Lantern's and find out what they know. Simon, you and Brother Wrath here will return to Earth and remove the ring from Batman. Let's hope this isn't part of something worse. Walker, see if you can get a hold of Kyle and the Templar Guardians. Kilowog, if you're listening get Salaak to train the new recruits while John is off world, also see if you can find anything in the records about ring blackouts."

"Gotcha poozer!"

With that the groups splintered off on their separate missions. Back on Earth Batman was confronting the League of Assassins.

************* AUTHOR'S NOTE********************

Hey guys hope you are all enjoying this story, sorry it is taking me longer to put out chapters, I have other stories I'm focusing on as well and this is a side project I like to write. Please if it's not too much write an honest critique/review/praise, whatever it is you want to call it, it would be greatly appreciated. Feedback helps me structure the story, and fix any bugs or kinks with the plot. It also gives me an idea of whether this piece will be liked by many people, or if I should just continue to write it for myself and the small few. So please review if you can, and happy writing to you all.


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